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The alleged attack that took the life of 21-year-old Thomas Johnson.was brutal, LAPD said in a statement. After two victims were shot in front of the hotel, a suspect chased after Johnson, and a full-on gun battle broke out, the department stated:

Mr. Johnson ran to the rear of the hotel through the lobby to avoid getting shot. Simultaneously, the suspect ran around the hotel toward the rear and confronted Mr. Johnson.

The suspect continued to fire several rounds, hitting Mr. Johnson and another victim, who returned fire with his own gun.

Johnson died at a hospital, police said. The others who were shot were stabilized at a hospital, authorities said.

It happened at 2:20 a.m. Sunday in the 500 block of Flower Street, police told us. LAPD officials said an argument that had started inside the hotel spilled out onto the street, where fighting and then gunfire erupted.

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The suspect cops are looking for was described by the department as "a male, black, black hair with corn rows style, brown eyes, black mustache, standing about 5 feet 10 inches tall, wearing a long black trench coat, black pants and black shoes."

Anyone with information on him was asked to call homicide detectives at 213-996-1891.

Dennis Romero is an L.A. Weekly staff writer. He formerly worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Los Angeles Times, where he participated in Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of the L.A. riots. His work has appeared in Rolling Stone online, the Guardian and, as a young stringer, the New York Times.